WASHINGTON (AP) — Iraq isn't spending much of its own money, despite soaring oil revenues that are pushing the country toward a massive budget surplus, auditors told Congress on Tuesday.

The expected surplus comes as the U.S. continues to invest billions of dollars in rebuilding Iraq and faces a financial squeeze domestically because of record oil prices.

"The Iraqis have a budget surplus," said U.S. Comptroller General David Walker. "We have a huge budget deficit. . . . One of the questions is who should be paying."

Democrats say the assessment is proof that the Iraq war as a waste of time and money. The U.S. has spent more than $45 billion on rebuilding Iraq. And while officials in Iraq contend that much progress is being made, many projects remain unfinished and U.S. troops are still needed to provide security.

"They ought to be able to use some of their oil to pay for their own costs and not keep sending the bill to the United States," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. federal government ran a monthly budget deficit of $175.56 billion in February, a record for any month, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.

Treasury's monthly budget statement shows the February deficit was 46% bigger than the deficit of $119.99 billion in February 2007. In January, the government had a budget surplus of $17.84 billion, which was unrevised.

Outlays were $281.29 billion during February, up 17% from February 2007's $240.31 billion. Government receipts in February were $105.72 billion, down 12% from February 2007's $120.31 billion.

The February 2008 deficit figure was a bit bigger than the Congressional Budget Office's estimate of a deficit of $174 billion for the fifth month of fiscal year 2008, which began Oct. 1.

The Treasury Department said the $175.56 billion figure marked the largest deficit of any particular month in history. The previous all-time high was $119.99 billion.

As Congress hears testimony today and Wednesday from the top U.S. military and diplomatic officials in Iraq, Democrats are questioning whether the United States should continue spending billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are saying that Iraq's government needs to spend more of its own money on reconstruction now that the United States has spent more than $45 billion. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., says future U.S. reconstruction payments should be in the form of loans, not grants — resurrecting a proposal that died in the Republican-controlled Congress at the start of the war five years ago.

Nelson, a member of the Senate committee that oversees spending legislation, says it's not fair for the United States to pay for reconstruction when Iraq's oil revenue could be $60 billion or more this year because of record prices. Nelson said he planned to offer an amendment to the Iraq spending bill that would require Iraq to pay back future reconstruction aid as well as money approved by Congress but not yet spent.

"It doesn't make any sense when they're making surpluses that we would continue to invest our money in Iraq for their infrastructure," Nelson said Monday in a telephone interview from Omaha. "That should be their investment. They should pay for that."

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There is growing frustration in Washington that Iraq is not spending more of its own money to stabilize and rebuild the country. High oil prices have earned Baghdad billions of dollars, and some in the U.S. Congress say Iraq should be using more of that money to pay for its own reconstruction. VOA's Bill Rodgers reports.

Car bombs continue to take their toll on Iraqis in Baghdad and elsewhere - though the level of violence is down significantly from a year ago.

Yet as Iraqis cope with the violence, Iraq's vast oil holdings are bringing in enough money so the government is flush with cash.

Oil revenues will produce a budget surplus for Iraq estimated at up to $50 billion this year alone. But little of that money is being spent on reconstruction says Joseph Christoff of the US Government Accountability Office....

What bullshit. This is pure pandering to the American voter with NO sense of reality or justice. We destroy their country then refuse to hire locals to rebuild it. Make no mistake about it, Iraq is occupied by the US and is still subject to our rules and regulations but most importantly our violence. There is still the systemic killing of Iraqis. Our rules say to rebuild they MUST use US companies, even their farmers MUST use US seed supplies. I would hope the Iraqis have balls enough to say "FUCK OFF" until they can keep their money and labor local.

_________________“I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat.”-Will Rogers